The whole-cell configuration of the patch-clamp technique is widely used to study electrically active cells and passive membrane properties, as well as the properties and pharmacology of ion channels, neurotransmitter receptors, and electrogenic transporters, in almost any cell type. In the brain, in addition to neurons, oligodendrocyte precursor cells (OPCs) that give rise to myelinating oligodendrocytes (OLs) are also excitable. Electrophysiological techniques provide the main tool for the thorough investigation of the electrogenic capacity of such cell types. Although there are many published protocols for whole-cell recordings, there are very few that touch upon the electrophysiological characteristics of oligodendrocyte lineage cells. Here we provide a detailed methodology for how to acquire and analyze whole-cell recordings from excitable cells, with a focus on oligodendrocyte lineage cells. We provide a protocol on how to successfully identify OPCs and OLs in brain slices, either with the use of transgenic animal models or through morphological and electrophysiological profiling. The method described can also be easily adopted for whole-cell recordings from oligodendrocyte lineage cells in vitro.
Keywords: Electrophysiology; Myelination; Oligodendrocyte precursor cells; Oligodendrocytes; Whole-cell patch clamp.